In Memory of Titi Titi

This is a personal note about why I Relay For Life each year with Relay for Life of Studio-City/North Hollywood at Walter Reed Middle School.

Junior High was when I first lost someone to cancer. I saw my aunt go into remission every couple of years but the time between remissions got shorter and shorter until cancer changed my family as I knew it.

Titi [tee tee] is Spanish for "Auntie" and even though my other aunts were addressed by name (Titi Chede, Titi Ivi, Titi Norma...), Esther Naomi Ibanez-Delgado was known simply as Titi. If you asked "which Titi", you were answered with an emphatic, exasperated "Titi TeeTEE!" as if, "could there be any other?".

She was a cool, glamorous aunt who went to discos and Club Med. She went to Cancun before it became a Spring Break destination. She lived in The City (NYC) and worked at Revlon. My older cousins got the best make-up from her. (I wasn't old enough to wear make-up.) I remember she had three earrings on one ear and five on the other.

She had a place on Metropolitan Oval in the Bronx that was my definition of a good apartment until... well, actually, to this day.

My reason to Relay is to join people around the world celebrating survivors, remembering those we've lost, and supporting the lifesaving mission of the American Cancer Society.

We ALL know someone affected by cancer.

Please make a donation or join my team. You are helping deliver the hope that future generations will not have to endure cancer threatening the lives of their friends and family. You have the power to fight back against a disease that affects millions.

To mail in a donation by check, please click here to print an offline donation form.

Or you can join us! The Relay For Life of Studio City/North Hollywood is a fun-filled overnight event held at Walter Reed Middle School designed to celebrate survivors while raising money for research and programs of your American Cancer Society.

One day. One night. One community. One Fight. Relay For Life is a life-changing event that brings together more than 3.5 million people- to celebrate the lives of those who have battled cancer; remember loved ones lost to the disease; and fight back against a disease that takes too much. By participating, you honor cancer survivors, pay tribute to the lives we've lost to the disease, and raise money to help fight cancer here in your community.